Scottish Opera's Leading Soprano Attacks Scots Government Arts Policy as 'Pathetic'
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Scotland on Sunday [Edinburgh]
By Arthur MacMillan
Scottish Opera's biggest star has launched a scathing attack on the Executive's "pathetic" arts policy, contrasting lavish spending on the new parliament building with penny-pinching on the nation's cultural life.
Scottish Opera soprano Lisa Milne told Scotland on Sunday that the arts world was struggling to get proper support from government.
"I just find it quite appalling when you think about the amount of money spent on the Scottish Parliament [building at Holyrood] and yet the purse strings seem to be pulled very tightly when it comes to the arts, specifically Scottish Opera," she said.
"I feel very disappointed that there seems to be no urgency for a national opera company. It's pathetic that that's the way the people in charge of the money are going about it."
As part of Scottish Opera's controversial £7 million deal with the Scottish Executive, the company has been forced to 'go dark', performing no major operas for the season that begins this summer.
Speaking ahead of the company's penultimate performance in Glasgow before its forced shutdown, Milne spoke of her disbelief that no senior politician attended Scottish Opera's Fundraising Gala concert last year.
Milne, who in April will make her debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, said: "It sums up the lack of commitment. I'm a product of Scotland. I'm not a product of elitism. I would never have been an opera singer if it weren't for Scottish Opera. If Scottish Opera goes, there will be a lot of people that could be great singers in the future who won't even know that Scottish opera exists."
Asked about her hopes for Scottish Opera in the future, Milne said: "If I had the answers, I would be running for some kind of office. All I know is that this is not the way forward. If Scottish Opera goes, it's only a matter of time before somewhere else goes."
Michael Matheson, the [opposition] Scottish National Party's culture spokesman, echoed Milne's criticism of the handling of the Scottish Opera crisis, but argued that the company, which has ran up debts in recent years, must live within its means. He said: "Scottish Opera is an institution, but it is equally important that they actually have a financial management system to make best use of the resources they have. It is because they did not have this that they are facing the problems they have."
Matheson said a more transparent system of funding was needed. "It is time that our national arts companies, including Scottish Opera, were funded directly by the Scottish Executive rather than the Arts Council."
The Scottish Conservatives' arts and culture spokesman, Jamie McGrigor, said: "I agree with Lisa Milne's comments. It is a bad advertisement for Scotland that a company that has been at the forefront for 40 years has had its reputation dragged through the mud.
"I fail to see why the Scottish Executive will not acknowledge that Scottish Opera is a world-class institution that requires a level of funding that they are not currently getting."
Milne's comments have re-ignited a row that Scottish Opera chairman Bill Taylor attempted to play down recently when he claimed it had "turned the corner".
Taylor, the QC-appointed chairman last October, has also pledged that the company will tour parts of Scotland it has never before visited in an effort to bring the arts to more areas of the country. His appointment followed one of the most stormy periods in Scottish Opera's history, which put it at the centre of political controversy over cuts in its funding.
The new chairman, who was unavailable for comment yesterday, also claimed that critics of Scottish Opera had been wrong to put the organisation's problems down to the lavish Ring cycle production which it staged in 2003. The company needed an advance of £4.5 million to pay off debts that had mounted up during the production, which won critical acclaim.
The production of the Wagnerian epic was claimed by some as a production too far, breaking its financial back. Taylor, however, insisted The Ring did not cost Scottish Opera vast amounts of money because of a sponsorship deal arranged with the Bank of Scotland. He said that the root of the company's troubles lay in a 1999 production of Macbeth.
The [Labour-controlled] Scottish Executive has dismissed Milne's comments, and argued that it was working in the best interests of Scottish Opera. A spokesman said: "We are disappointed by Lisa Milne's comments at a time when the chairman, Bill Taylor and his colleagues are working tirelessly to ensure that quality and access are maintained within the company.
"We are delighted that 'Essential Scottish Opera', which is currently playing to packed houses throughout Scotland, is exposing new audiences to the joys of opera. We look forward to continuing our positive relationship with Bill and his team in the future."
Meanwhile, Scotland on Sunday understands that Scottish Opera is considering the appointment of special ambassadors to improve the company's battered public image. It is thought the proposal was discussed at a recent board meeting.
Taylor believes the appointments are necessary to invigorate Scottish Opera's profile, rebuild its tarnished reputation and improve morale.
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